The brotherhood of the original and best drama adaptation of Bu Bu Jing Xin (also known as Startling With Each Step or Scarlet Heart) adds another to the married brethren, much to my pleasure as I just want each and everyone to find lasting happiness unlike their characters in the drama. This time it’s 8th Prince played by Kevin Cheng, who married even later in life at 49 years old to tie the knot with 27 year old HK-actress Grace Chan. The 22-year age gap is fodder for HK tabloids but I always thought Kevin wouldn’t marry until he found the right girl whatever her age so I figure his three-year long relationship with Grace was the right amount of time for the couple to make it forever. The couple held their wedding in Bali with plenty of stars in attendance and lots of giant smiles all around. Congrats and wishing the newlyweds a lifetime of happiness.

I think Ockoala is of chinese origin: Congratulations to the couple even if I don’t have any idea who they are except the groom whom I saw with Scarlet Heart- Chinese. Whilst I am happy for them, but I don’t agree that it was the best adaptation in totality. It was good for the chinese as it uses chinese history for the drama itself was so dragged and the filming making style was too outdated. Acting performance wise—-definitely the Koreans did million miles better.

I watch the chinese version out of curiousity due to the fan of the chinese adaptation.I was like when watching it.. there was not even a comparison to begin with. The Korean version used their own history and the production of the chinese version was too 1980s.

Not sure how you came to the conclusion that the original Scarlet Heart drama is not the best adaptation. The original novel is in Chinese to begin with and the plot is about the Kangxi Emperor’s sons vying for the throne, so the chinese adaptation is definitely a much better and more accurate adaptation than Scarlet Heart: Ryeo.

In terms of production, Scarlet Heart was aired in 2011 whereas Ryeo was produced 5 years later, you simply cannot compare their technology etc. Acting-wise, you gotta be kidding me. The original version is definitely better as the whole cast are skilled actors/actresses.

Adaptation does not necessary to be exactly the same otherwise if that tolerated the art world is fuck. Simply copying and pasting limits once creativity. Imagine Cinderella story adaptation are all done the same way.

Acting… definitely NOT the 4th and 8th Prince performances. The actors actors simply nailed those characters. The supporting actors in the Korean version were great too.

What does ethnicity has to do with things here? The original 4th and 8th princes nailed their characters too, and the supporting cast of the original version performs better than the Korean counterparts, I don’t want to name people because that will just start fanwars.

The original drama itself is not only well-received by the public, but also widely approved by the original novel’s fans, which is amazing. Most drama adaptations of other novels failed mainly because they differ too much from the original source, in turn ruining the story flow and making the novel fans angry.

@Levy korean versions of Moon Lovers is one of the best kdrama ever made? I’m not gonna laugh but that is totally not true. I’m neither chinese nor korean, but Moon Lovers as best drama? Well it’s subpar to many other great drama. The messy storyline, somehow weak-acting line especially from its own main female lead. The only saving grace for that drama is Lee Joon Gi. He hard-carried the show by his own sorry to say. And to some extend Kang Ha neul of course. But still i’ve eatched tons other great historical kdrama and this? Is definitely not the best. Buzzworthy yes but for so many different reason including the negative one. I’ve been an avid kdrama watcher since 2003 so i’ve seen a lot. And reading translated novel will never be the same as reading it in its original language so

Just so you know, the original material of which BBJX and Scarlet Heart is based on is a CHINESE novel by Tong Hua, and is based around real life historical events during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor and his many many sons. The K-version drama took the general storyline and tried fitting it into one of its own historical dynasty. But probably you saw the K-version one first so it felt more original, but really, the korean adaptation was a total hot mess, and given the excellent source material (the novel was wonderfully and intricately written), they botched it quite bad! The chinese adaptation however, is one of the best and faithful drama adaptation of a novel I’ve seen.

Of course I know the novel was written by Tong Hua and she used Chinese history in the book. I even read the english version of the few chapters of the novel as I was really curious why the some chinese fans were aggressively criticizing the Korean version as the Moon Lovers was by far one of the best kdrama ever made in totally. It was the first drama I watch of Lee Joon Gi and saw l,if not the best,one of the best interpretations in kdramaland. Then there was Kang Hanuel…to me his performance always stood out when he was minor roles in drama… since heir. I wondered he was not given major roles which I am happy he is one of the main lead characters.

Acting performance aside, the korean version was eye candy, all the actor are super handsome. The chinese version had handsome actors but their hairstyles although realist was not very flattering.
Im not asian but Bu bu jing xin really made me cry

Why does our enthicity discredit our opinion and preference? You can prefer the Korean version but it doesn’t mean you should discredit another person’s preference with her enthicity to highlight your own opinion. You could have just said you disagree and prefer the Korean version without bringing Koala’s enthicity into this.

Agree with @Liltih & @J. Please do not bring ethnicity into the discussion. @Levy – it is ok if you prefer the Korean version. You did not tell us what ethnicity you are, so don’t guess for other people. It’s none of your business! Moon Lovers is by far one of the messiest kdrama made. I like LJK but Moon Lovers is definitely not his best.

Well that how you see it. But definitely Wang So was his best performance in recent years, not only incomparison to his performances, but in kdramaland as a whole. His delivery of the 4th of the Prince character was just so profound.

The eye candy was just the supporting casts who have very limited impact on the whole story and to be fair with the eye candy, they delivered well in those important scenes. If we compare IUs performance with LJG and KHN, there discrepancy in the depthness of the performance but she is not too far off compared to the chinese character.

Who’s mentioning the maturity card? Those who perceived that adaptation have to be copy and paste. FYI, the reason why Tong Hua was credited as the original creator was due to intellectual property rights. Otherwise, if such law didn’t exist, the producers of ML wouldn’t have done mentioningTong Hua considering Moon Lovers was not the same as the novel in most parts but rather only adapted it’s main points and the writer of the drama has kept his/her own creativity in the whole process. FYI, adaptation does mean copying and pasting. That is not adaptation but ripping off ones work.

I’m guessing Levy is probably on the younger side, the lack of maturity means increased concerns over superficial eye candy rather than actual acting skills and content. This coming from someone who also isn’t Chinese or Korean either…

Hmmm….. Lack of maturity Yes! But younger? I don’t think so… (however age is relative). Young people don’t usually point out ethnicity as the first argument, we don’t care what colour or race when we argue. She sounds more like an old recluse making racial comments whenever she has a chance.

I’m guessing Levy is probably on the younger side, the lack of maturity means increased concerns over superficial eye candy, flashy modern costumes and design rather than actual acting skills and historical content. This coming from someone who also isn’t Chinese or Korean either…

Levy is a troll lol “the best kdrama ever” I want to barf, even knetz thought it sucked. Let’s not forget the idol turned actors in the drama doing subpar acting at best. Lololol..stop making us all laugh

The Chinese main complaint of Scarlet Heart was the Korean version dumbed down the female lead character whilst the novel and Chinese version had a smarter female character. I don’t know how true this was since I didn’t watch either. I do find Chinese Mainland dramas to be long and draggy too but on the flip side audiences say they feel the characters better.

Congratulations to this beautiful couple and yes, real life Mr Sunshine age gap romance had a fairytale ending.

I watched both version and like both of them for what they are – totally different adaptations. If we are to judge base on the original material, there is no doubt that BBJX wins hands down. I do feel that some fans that prefer the Kdrama version don’t really understand the Chinese source material, history and/or culture especially the nuances of how emotions or relationships are portrayed thus, they don’t see it as “acting” or deem it – boring. There’s a subtle art of masterful acting to really bring out the Chinese historical context done by Chinese actors that is under appreciated. The Chinese drama with the exception of the time-travel, tried to remain true to the history although with some liberties. While the Kdrama adapted so much that it was more like fantasy drama. Like someone mentioned, Ruoxi was witty, smart and a really strong character in both the novel and the Cdrama. Hae Soo wasn’t a strong character at all despite IU’s good performance.

Someone’s statement about “Moonlovers being one of the best Korean drama ever made in totality” is seriously reducing me into fits of laughter. I feel sad for the likes of Signal, Forest of Secret, Life on Mars, Kim Sam Soon, Dae jang geum, This life is my first etc for not making that list…

Its not that moon lovers is the best drama. Its lee joon gi that glued the audience with His ART level performance he just dint let most people go. chinese are crazy for lee joon gi because of his GONGILL performance which reminds them of one of their legendary actor from farewell my cocubine. SCRIPT AND OVERALL CAST chinese version is superior But lee joon gi and his senior cast was enough to glue the chinese audience. Damn there was some kind of magnetic power in his performance that even men cried for him yes including me Lol. Some one give this man a solid script like past years the last perfect script he got was two weeks damn that father and daughter were the best father daughter in k dramaland but after joseon gunman all were bad scripts. Sorry lee joon gi

I wouldn’t have written sarcastically if the comment was about LJG’s performance, even so Moonlovers isn’t his best work. But to call it one of the best bla… bla… ever made in totality is really stretching things so much. Putting the original source content aside, perform a fair comparison side by side and compare story, script, editing, acting, score, costume, faithfulness to the period etc, one version will come out a clear winner.

ML is great. Just my opinion, I think it’s film making style is beyond by so many years compared to the styles in most Asian dramas. Maybe try watching it with an open mind.So I could understand if some people are crazy about it because to date it’s the only drama that I’ve glued in. I know Lee Joon Gi did a fantastic job and not sure if it’s his best performance as I’ve only watch few of his drama but agree that his Wang So was one of the best performances I’ve seen. However it’s not the only one I like in the drama. I also like the direction style. I thought it was sophisticated.

Just my personal observations, I think those giving negative comments about the Korean have actually watch the drama. I don’t agree that some chinese fans are giving negative comments but I noticed most of them are SongSong couple & PBG fans. Don’t shoot me but I am only saying per my observation. I have been a lurker here for quite sometime.

Yup, If it was a 49 yrs old woman marrying a 27 man… the uproar and criticism and negativity would have been explosive!! But such is the world we live in, there’s still no escaping the double standards placed on women.

@Merrin, I myself am a lurker too and I very rarely comment unless I feel strongly compelled to. I don’t just watch Korean and Chinese drama either. My interests cover a broad spectrum. Anyhow, SK drama are generally better in direction/ art/ tech than China (although China is learning and catching up quickly). But to imply that those giving negative comments were not watching ML with an open or wide-enough mind is exhausting. We TV bums have been watching numerous drama for a long time. We’ve been excited by the good ones, irked by the bad ones, surprised by the i-thought-this-was-going-to-be-so-so-but-it-turned-out-to-be-awesome ones and disappointed by the turned-out-this-wasn’t-so-great-afterall ones.
Now, SK adapted this drama because it had such a huge following so I too was initially looking forward to this version. But not only it fell short to the China ver, it also felt like a lazy production that is riding the success of the C-version. ML might have been a success in Korea and in other parts of the world. But, review it fairly and it will not end up close to being ‘one of the best ever made in totality’.
I recently watched a C-drama called Guardian, and it had some of the biggest flaws that a drama could ever have. But it had two great leading actors that basically made all those other flaws invisible, probably akin to the performances of LJG and KHN in ML. Would I call Guardian ‘one of the…….. In totality’? Even though I was glued to each episode at replayed it again and again? No. Still a crappy drama, i’m not going to sugercoat that.
Fact is fact, opinion is abstract. We can agree to disagree if opinion clashes, but facts always speak for themselves.